Interior lining materials for motor vehicle bodies

ABSTRACT

NOVEL CUSTOM-MADE INTERIOR LININGS FOR MOTOR VEHICLE BODIES COMPRISED OF A NEEDLE STITCHED FIBER FLEECE OF 50 TO 600 GM./M.2 HAVING A PERMEANENTLY SHAPED, THERMOPLAS TIC SUPPORTING LAYER.

United States Patent Int. Cl. B31f 7/210; B321? /06 U.S. Cl. 156221 4Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Novel custom-made interior linings formotor vehicle bodies comprised of a needle stitched fiber fleece of 50to 600 gm./m. having a permanently shaped, thermoplastic supportinglayer.

PRIOR ART The interior walls and the floors of cars used for passengertransportation consist for the most part of iron or steel plates andthese plates therefore have to be provided with a special inner liningto provide insulation and soundproofing. A particularly comfortable andpleasing character is lent to car interiors when they are covered withrugs and rug-like materials. According to the present state of the art,tufted or padded rug materials are almost always used for this purpose.These consist of a strong jute base into which the warp threads form thetextile fiber material are interlocked with the aid of a weaving loom.

It has been found exceedingly advantageous when fitting these coveringsinto the cars to line the car bodies with as few as possible large-areapieces of the lining material. These large-sized pieces of interiorlining have to be fitted to the curves and uneven surfaces of theinterior, as for example over the Kardan duct for the drive shaft. Forthis purpose, flat, tufted rugs have a reenforcing supporting layer ofpolyethylene, and they have been heated to the melting point of thepolyethylene, shaped in a pressing die and cut to the desired size.However, these preshaped and cut-to-size interior linings from tuftingrugs have many disadvantages. Particularly, due to constructionrequirements, the floors of car bodies have corners and edges as Well asnon-planar surfaces, for example, the covering over the clutch, gearshift, the driveshaft, and on the platforms of the seat supportingmeans. The lining or covering material has to be fitted to these unevenareas in a smooth and flawless manner, which requires a considerablestretchability on part of the tufted rug reenforced with a layer ofpolyethylene. However, due to the jute backing, this type of rug hasonly a very restricted stretchability and cannot be shaped at random. Inthose areas where rounded surfaces or corners have to be fitted, creasesor even tears due to the cracking of the jute fabric are apt to occurand elimination of such creases requires a special and very costlyoperation.

Since the lining materials always have to be of identical dimensions,they are cut to adapt to the respective fitting area after forming.However, these out edges produce a very ugly sight when tufted rugs areused because the cut jute and warp threads hang out over a length ofseveral centimeters. These hanging threads also interfere when theinterior lining is fitted into the car body and therefore it isfrequently necessary to cover the cut edges with a seam binding. Forlarge-area, fitted and notched sections of interior linings, this callsfor specific and costly operational steps. Furthermore at those pointswhere the edges run parallel to the warp-thread rows of the tufted rugs,the

3,562,052 Patented Feb. 9, 1971 warp-thread rows separate and therenforcing jute fabric becomes visible and makes a very undesirablesight.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the invention to providenovel interior linings for automobiles which can be economicallyproduced and simply installed.

It is another object of the invention to provide novel automobileinterior linings which do not have the disad vantages of interiorlinings with jute backings.

These and other objects andadvantages of the invention will becomeobvious from the following detailed description.

THE INVENTION The interior lining of the invention for automobile bodiesis comprised of a fiber fleece of 50 to 600- g./m. needle stitched twoor more times and a substantially closed, thermoplastic supporting layeron one side of which the said fleece is embedded, the said linings beingpermanently shaped by heating the same above the softening temperatureof the thermoplastic supporting layer, compressing the heated lining ina cold pressing die and cutting the linings to the desired size.

These interior linings of the invention do not have the disadvantages ofthe prior art linings. They are easy to shape and they adapt themselveswithout creasing even to diflicult contours, which require a pronouncedstretchability. This is a particular advantage since tufted rugs due totheir poor stretchability very often are out only in small sectionswhich then have to be sewn together or seam fused into the lining asdesired and these Working steps are costly and cause considerable waste.No unsightly hanging ends to interfere with the fitting will occur atthe cut edges of the interior lining of the invention. A furtheradvantage of the interior lining of the invention resides in the lowprice compared to tufted rugs because of the simpler and less costlymethod of production.

A particularly advantageous development of the lining material accordingto the invention consists in that this material can be laminated withadditional layers of heat and sound-limiting materials disposed on thethermoplastic supporting layer.

Textile fibers for the interior linings of the invention may be naturalfibers such as wool or any other animal hair, silk, cotton, linen, flaxand the like, as well as synthetic fibers such as reclaimed cellulose,cellulose derivatives, polypropylene, polyamides of the type ofpolycaprolactone and polyhexamethylene adipamides, polyesters such aspolyterephthalic acid glycolate, acrylonitrile fibers and others.

The thermoplastics for the supporting layer shall possess at roomtemperatures the utmost dimension constancy and flexibility withoutcracking. The softening temperature should lie between 180 C. Examplesof suitable thermoplastics are high-pressure and low-pressurepolyethylene, polypropylene, hard and soft polyvinyl chloride.

Aside from the type of the fiber material used, the weight of the fleeceand the manner of sewing are most decisive for the usefulness of theinterior linings. Fleece weights of less than g./m. manifest a poordurability solely due to the fact that the effective textile layer isvery thin. Advantageously, the durability is tested by means of theSchopper-abrasion device.

Although the effective thickness of the textile layer increases with theincreasing weight of the fleece, the tendency to develop flulf Or napincreases in the same measure. By means of heavier stitching, this napformation can be prevented or at least restricted, even when heavierfleeces are used. However, at fleeces weighing more than 600 g./m. theformation of nap can no longer be prevented. The most preferred fleeceweights lie between 200 and 400 g./m. The stitching is particularlyeffective when it is done in several seams and the fleece is turned overbetween the individual seams. For each seam stitched, at least 70stitches per cm. should be made.

The securing of the fleece to the thermoplastics can be effected, forexample, by sprinkling and subsequent fusing on of thermoplastic powderor by application of a thermoplastic film, heated to its softeningpoint. An important factor is to be certain that the fleece fibers arethoroughly secured and hardened in the thermoplastics.

Prior to the molding, the thermoplastic layer is heated above its fusionpoint. The hot lining is then placed in the pressing die and is molded.This process can be effected either by pressure or by vacuum. The liningis cooled and retains the desired form thereafter. It has also provedvery advantageous and timesaving to arrange slits and ridges on theexterior of the press-molds, corresponding to the final contours of thelining material when installed in the vehicle.

The edge of this lining material may be accurately cut along these slitsand edges with a knife or a red-hot wire, while they are securely heldin the mold Where they will then cool. When a predominantlythermoplastic fiber, such as polyamide fibers, is used in the fleece, asmooth, fiber-free edge is obtained by cutting with the red-hot wire.

With a relatively thin lining material consisting of, for example, 300g./m. of fiber fleece and 400 g./m. of polyethylene, which is expectedto have an improved capability to insulate against cold and sound, it isadvantageous to introduce additional layers of heat and soundprooffabrics into the side of the press mold which faces the thermoplasticlayer. These insulating materials, such as for example wool felt, corkmats, composition pulp board, gumpcocos mats, polyurethane foammaterials or foamed-up polyvinyl chloride, can cover the entire area ofthe form die or only parts thereof. The insulating material layers forlarger sized parts have to be frequently slit or wedges have to be cutout at specific points so that no creases occur during the shapingprocess. During the shaping process, the hot thermoplastic layer ispressed onto the insulating material to join the insulating layer withthe coated fleece into a homogeneous interior lining, which is endowedwith especially high values of insulation. I

These lining materials of the invention cannot only be used for coveringthe floor, but they can be installed at any other part of the interiorof the cars, such as lining of the ceilings, trunk, arm rests andothers.

In the following example, there is described a preferred embodiment toillustrate the invention. However, it should be understood that theinvention is not intended to be limited to the specific embodiment.

4 EXAMPLE Automobile interior lining or arm rests A needle fleece of 200g./m. consisting of nylon 12 fibers with a pile length of 90 mm. andwhich was produced in the usual manner in a cardingand weftingloom, wastwice neeedle-stitched with about stitches per 1 cm. Between the twoneedle runs, the fleece was turned. The resulting needle fleece wassprinkled with 400 g./m. of polyethylene powder and the polyethylenepowder was then heated to its melting point in an infrared radiationfield. This material with the still hot polyethylene layer was rolledout between cooled rollers under moderate pressure to effect a goodanchoring of the fibers in the polyethylene layer. This material was cutinto fitting pieces of about 40 x 30 cm. and the said pieces were heatedto above the softening point and then placed into an open die. Thispressing die consisted of punches and stencils which exactly conformedto the shape of the arm rest. After the pressing die had been closed,the material was cooled and'was cut at the edge. An interior liningwithout cracks or creases was thus obtained. =Examination of thewearability of the lining with a Schopper-device showed about 3000 chafemarks before the fiber fleece was worn down to the polyethylene layer.

Various modifications of the interior lining of the invention may bemade without departing from the spirit or scope thereof.

We claim:

1. A method of producing interior linings for automobile bodiesconsisting essentially of the steps of forming a fiber fleece of 50 to600 g./m. by repeatedly needle-stitching and turning over between twosuccessive stitching seams, applying a substantially closedthermoplastic supporting layer on one side of said fleece, permanentlyshaping said fleece and said supporting layer by heating the same abovethe softening temperature of the thermoplastic supporting layer,compressing the heated lining in a cold pressing die and cutting thelinings to the desired size.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the fiber fleece produced has a weightof 200 to 500 g./m.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the thermoplastic supporting layer isfused to an insulating layer.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the softening temperature of thethermoplastic supporting layer is between to C.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1964 Mills 161l70 3/1967 Homieret al. 161-81 US. Cl. X.'R. 156-245; l61154 Patent No. 3,562,052 DatedFebruary 9, 1971 Inventor(s) Franz Mate] (39k 15 a1 It is certified thaterror appears in the above-identified patent and that said LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 4, line 42 (claim 2) "500" should read 400 Signed and sealed this31st day of August 1971 (SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETC IHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer ActingCommissioner of P:

